Pickersgill (1996, 2007) recognized Afrixalus unicolor (Boettger, 1913) as a distinct species; thus Afrixalus fornasinii from South Africa to southern Tanzania (including the area around Lake Malawi) and A. unicolor from southern Tanzania (including Zanzibar and Pemba Islands) to Kenya. However, here we follow Schiøtz (1999) in considering these to constitute a single species.

This species ranges from coastal Kenya southward through eastern and southern Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and eastern Zimbabwe to coastal KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Though its presence is uncertain in Swaziland, this area is still mapped on the species distribution. It is a lowland species generally occurring below 300 m, though it has been recorded up to 1,300 m asl.

It is a species of moist savannah, bush land, grassland, and dry forest, with a possible preference for dense savannah. It breeds in permanent and semi-permanent pools, dams, vleis and marshes with reeds and sedges, tending to favour permanent waterbodies. The eggs are laid on emergent vegetation, particularly on leaf blades of Cyperus sedges.

In the south of its range it is threatened by sugar cane farming, urbanization, drainage of breeding sites, afforestation with pines, and the spread of eucalyptus (drying up breeding sites). Chemical spraying to control mosquitoes might impact some populations. However, overall it is not threatened. It is sometimes found in the international pet trade but at levels that do not currently constitute a major threat.